European Championship qualification
Austria and Rangnick make the EM ticket perfect
Marcel Sabitzer (front) scored the winning goal for Austria. photo
© Robert Jaeger/APA/dpa
Austria and Ralf Rangnick are going to the European Football Championships in Germany. With a victory in Azerbaijan, the Austrians will clear their ticket early – although things will get turbulent shortly before the end.
Borussia Dortmund’s Marcel Sabitzer (48th minute) scored the goal with a hand penalty for the guests, who surprisingly struggled, especially in the first half.
Burgstaller sees yellow-red
Things didn’t go ideally for the Rangnick team in the second round either, as they made a lot of mistakes. In the first minute of stoppage time, Azerbaijan even had a great chance to equalize – but Toral Bayramov shot past from a few meters from an unmarked position.
In the fourth minute of added time, Austria’s Guido Burgstaller was shown a yellow-red card for repeated foul play. The former Bundesliga professional had only recently been substituted on. The 34-year-old Burgstaller was reactivated by Rangnick four years after his retirement from selection due to numerous injuries.